Evergreen Line contract awarded

A rendering of the Evergreen Line and West Coast Express at Port Moody Central Station

A $2-million Trans Link Evergreen Line contract for work to prepare for the relocation of railway tracks in Coquitlam and Port Moody, B.C., Canada, has been awarded to BEL Contracting.

The railway tracks in Port Moody will be relocated to accommodate a portion of the Evergreen Line guideway adjacent to Clarke Street, from Queens Street to Mary Street. Rail service will continue without major interruption.

Work begins in August and includes relocation of utilities, realignment of Columbia Street adjacent to the tracks and construction of a gravel base for the relocated tracks. Final track construction and relocation will occur in 2013.

"The Evergreen Line will create more than 8,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction and the new rapid transit connection will deliver new economic opportunities and improved quality of life in the Tri-Cities," said the Honorable James Moore, senior minister for British Columbia and member of parliament for Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam. "The Evergreen Line demonstrates that our government's Economic Action Plan is working."

The relocation of the railway tracks is part of a series of early works construction for the Evergreen Line. Early works construction lays the groundwork for major construction and will help keep the project schedule on track.

The British Columbian government will select a primary contractor to design and build the Evergreen Line this summer.

The Evergreen Line will open in the summer of 2016, providing rapid transit for the first time to the communities of Coquitlam and Port Moody, as well as the students of Douglas College.